Among the many things you will learn this weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring - enter on the 5th street side - and they are now only $15 per person starting at 11AM every Saturday and Sunday,

And besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule. With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose. These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown. All tours are now - only $15 per person.

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built, the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton, actor Ryan Gosling and more. And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral. At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown. You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.Tickets for either tour are now only $15 per person - free for children under 10 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com. All credit card orders will be processed at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour. All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

Friday, September 09, 2016

Almost no line at Broad Museum today due to Grand Avenue being closed for a big event at Disney Hall. Now's the time to see it is you haven't yet. Guards say they've never seen so few people there since day it opened.

My Saturday and Sunday Morning tours of
Historic Downtown LA - from 10:30 to 12:30 every Saturday and Sunday (Price now $15 per person; children under 10 free) -start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE this Saturday August 13th and Sunday August14th 2016 - which is located at 453 S. Spring in the Spring Arts Tower. And
each of these tours can be customized - within reason, of course - to
meet the interests of those who reserve ahead of time.The Last Bookstore presents 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE and AMERICAN COWBMAGAZINE,

Among the many things you will learn this
weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria
Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have
written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring
Arts Tower at 5th and Spring - enter on the 5th street side - and they are now only $10 per person.

And
besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized
tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours
including weekdays - depending on your schedule. With a minimum of four
reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on
any subject matter you choose. These tours can be after work, during
lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at
453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long
time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with
the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery
Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has
brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to
Downtown. All tours are now - only $15 per person.

Wyatt Earp

If
you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you
will see the first motion picture theater built, the place where Babe
Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie
Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made
his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of
everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino,
LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night
Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton, actor Ryan Gosling and more. And
you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll
explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by
gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by
friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral. At
this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime
minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta
Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions
all had in common here.

You
will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where
Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to
Downtown. You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms
and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a
sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.Tickets
for either tour are now only $15 per person - free for children under 10 -
and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396
or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com. All credit card orders will be
processed at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start
of the tour. All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the
study of the history of the neighborhood.

Lastly,
future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as
architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets,
sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler),
transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West
history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many
other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed
by request for groups of four or more.

We
will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like
to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of
stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their
owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special
events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown
Los Angeles.

We
expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving
to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know
what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long
established Downtown residents who want to know more about their
neighborhood.

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

My Saturday and Sunday Morning tours of
Historic Downtown LA - from 10:30 to 12:30 every Saturday and Sunday (Price now reduced to only $15 per person; children under 10 free) -start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE this Saturday August 6th and Sunday August7th 2016 - which is located at 453 S. Spring in the Spring Arts Tower. And
each of these tours can be customized - within reason, of course - to
meet the interests of those who reserve ahead of time.The Last Bookstore presents 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - FEATURED In GQ MAGAZINE and Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE and AMERICAN COWBMAGAZINE,

Among the many things you will learn this
weekend is that if a friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria
Hotel - it would have been impossible for George Gershwin to have
written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring
Arts Tower at 5th and Spring - enter on the 5th street side - and they are now only $10 per person.

And
besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be offering customized
tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours
including weekdays - depending on your schedule. With a minimum of four
reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on
any subject matter you choose. These tours can be after work, during
lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at
453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long
time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with
the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery
Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has
brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to
Downtown. All tours are now - only $10 per person.

Wyatt Earp

If
you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you
will see the first motion picture theater built, the place where Babe
Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie
Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made
his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of
everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino,
LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night
Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton, actor Ryan Gosling and more. And
you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll
explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by
gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by
friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral. At
this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime
minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta
Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions
all had in common here.

You
will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where
Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to
Downtown. You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms
and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a
sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.Tickets
for either tour are now only $15 per person - free for children under 10 -
and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396
or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com. All credit card orders will be
processed at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start
of the tour. All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the
study of the history of the neighborhood.

Lastly,
future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as
architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets,
sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler),
transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West
history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many
other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed
by request for groups of four or more.

We
will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like
to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of
stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their
owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special
events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown
Los Angeles.

We
expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving
to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know
what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long
established Downtown residents who want to know more about their
neighborhood.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Now, this a great piece of film showing the new and the old Bunker Hill on a split screen, but the text that comes with it - is a disaster. And I realize the writer just needed a short introduction with a little excitement in it and while rummaging through his or her mind - a number of possibilities came up. Unfortunately, none of them had any relation to the truth. And these are the 'incorrect statements'.

Bunker Hill, an area of roughly five square blocks in downtown Los Angeles, holds a place in city lore similar to that of the water wars or the construction of Dodger Stadium: beginning in 1959, it was the subject of a massive urban-renewal project, in which “improvement” was generally defined by the people who stood to profit from it, as well as their backers at City Hall, at the expense of anyone standing in their way.

The Bunker Hill Redevelopment Project was adopted in 1959 and somehow lasted an astonishing fifty-three years.

Now, the unnamed writer states that Bunker Hill ' razing
and redevelopment was a secret plot by evil developers - eager to get
the city to condemn and bulldoze the hill so they could extract huge amounts money
for themselves. And that they were ruthlessly
doing this at the expense of anyone who got in their way!

Now in the over 50 years
I've been personally involved with Bunker Hill as a private citizen (and I was opposed to the CRA project; my first
years were spent trying to save its Victorian houses), I have never - once
- heard or read anyone suggest anything remotely like
that conspiracy theory. The simple reason for that was – nothing resembling it happened. And besides it never happening, there has also never
been any urban legends about it happening. Which is surprising since Bunker Hill has had more
lies and tall tales told about it than any other project in DTLA’s history.

Now one way to disprove this claim - other than the fact it
never happened – is that for over one hundred years - the City of Los Angeles,
following the successful examples set by West Coast cities such as Seattle and
Portland, tried to better connect Downtown with adjacent areas by tearing down
Bunker Hill. That project - from its inception over one hundred years ago - was what used to be called
a civic improvement that would benefit the overall civic good

And back in 1916, even the owners of the buildings on Bunker
Hill realized their disconnection from the rest of the city was hurting their
properties and tried to tear down their own buildings and regrade the hill themselves. But $16 million price tag was too much for them to afford.

And every few years, a new version of the Bunker Hill project
was proposed in the 1920’s, the 1930's, the 1940's and the early
1950's. But the problems were always the same - the huge cost of
the project - and the lack of any demand for the land.

And the 1959 plan was just another revision of what had been attempted
for many decades; but this time it had federal money to get the project done. And by
the early 1960’s new parcels were being created and they were slowly sold
and equally slowly developed.

And the reason the development went slowly was that
the Bunker Hill project had always been a civic project designed to achieve
certain civic goals. It had never
been a developer pushed project.

And not once in the project's one hundred year history had there had never anyone - much less a developer – eager to get their hands on that property.

So the New Yorker should remove and retract that post before
it adds one more lie to the history books.
Assuming, of course, as I do – the New Yorker is interested in the
truth - and that is something I do believe is true.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

This morning the Guardian has yet another cool piece about our The Last Bookstore. Here is the opening -

The Last Bookstore: a literary treasure trove in downtown LA

Rianna Walcott

For a visiting student without a car, Los Angeles is a difficult city to make home. It’s vast, sprawling over almost 5,000 square miles, with an infamously poor public transport system. The Last Bookstore is tricky to reach – an hour’s journey from my apartment, but well worth the pilgrimage. While I treat all bookstores as sacred spaces, this spot in downtown LA is uniquely beautiful.

The Last Bookstore is California’s largest used and new book and record store, having opened in 2005 in a downtown loft. It has grown since then to 22,000 square feet, a softly lit labyrinthine collection of books and records, with space for literary, musical and theatrical events.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Anyone know where I can get a old felt cowboy hat - if not dry cleaned - at least - cleaned in a day or two in or near Downtown LA - or maybe Hollywood. All the local dry cleaners say they have to send it out (which I knew) and that it'd then take at least week just to get an estimate.

Friday, July 08, 2016

It was an act of violence that far surpassed...anything ...I have
seen in a lifetime of living in LA or my twenty years in Downtown. I had
just watched a group of not particularly young men and woman stomping on the
face, the head and body of a man lying in the street - 5th
Street just before it meets Hill - directly across from the entrance to
the subway.

I first knew something was happening when I noticed people
standing in the street when I was a full block away, but didn't think anything
of it, I then had to wait for two signals to change before I was even on that
block - and it was only then that I noticed the people were still standing
here. And as I got closer I heard one woman yell out to someone who was
standing somewhat in front of her. She said - "You know this isn't
making us look very good."

And as I got a bit closer, a few of the spectators broke away and
I first saw a somewhat older black man lying in the street with several black
men and one black woman with their backs to me - kicking his body - and
his head - which was bleeding. And it was the woman who - at that point
in time - was doing most of the yelling and most of the kicking to the head and
the face - though they all seemed to be joining in.

And it was quickly apparent that most of the people closest to the
fight knew the people they were watching as they were calling out to them by
their names. So seeing as, I couldn't see anyone calling for help or even
looking for help (though that could have happened earlier) - I went around the
fight to get to a better reception area just as one of the attackers, who had
been kneeling by then not moving body, appeared to be reaching into the
victim's pockets and while I couldn't see him very well as he passed behind me,
I did see a wad of bills in one of his hands.

And I was still trying to get to 911 with my phone - with busy
signal after busy signal - as I could still hear the woman yelling and stomping
the man's head ...as I kept on getting so busy signal. So I finally into
Hill Street looking for a police officer - when I spotted a motorcycle officer
coming up 5th - but in the far right hand lane where he would not see the body
since the attackers at that moment had run off. So I ran down the street- and
yelled at the police officer - and pointed towards the now totally motionless body
- and just as he was about to pass me - his eyes saw where I was pointing and
he made a U-turn. And one other person also tried to wave him down once
he saw what I was doing.

Fortunately, the man came to before the ambulance arrived and he
was alive when he was taken away. And I then left - after briefly telling
the officers what I had seen - since there was nothing else I could do. I
barely saw anyone's face through the crowd and even if I had, I have almost
total facial blindness and I can barely recognize people I've known for years, and
there were plenty of people there who knew who everyone was.

And - as I said earlier- I have never seen anything like this
before anywhere in LA. But in the past year - with the violent crime wave
that has engulfed the entire city - and the entire state - ever since the
passage of Proposition 47 - I have been seeing a lot of things happening I
never thought I'd ever seen happen in this city. And yet - all the
politicians who lied to us about what it would do to our communities - still
refuse to repeal it and start over.

And I had just discovered - only minutes before I had left my
office - there is far worse proposition that is going to be on the fall ballot.
A proposition that is supposed to reform sentencing guidelines for
non-violent criminals. But this proposition will instead - as I just discovered
after reading an article the LA Times linked to - unleash a tidal wave of
violent criminals into our communities.

Tuesday, July 05, 2016

My Saturday and Sunday Morning
tours of Historic Downtown LA are from 10:30 to 12:30 every Saturday
and Sunday (Now at only $10 per person) and they start
at THE LAST BOOKSTORE this Saturday July 9thnd
& Sunday July 10th at 5th & Spring.

Among the many things you will learn this weekend is that if a
friend of Wyatt Earp's had not built the Alexandria Hotel - it would have been
impossible for George Gershwin to have written his iconic Rhapsody in Blue.

And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and
Spring - enter on the 5th street side - and they are now only $10 per person.

And besides our regular scheduled tours, we will be
offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to
three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule. With a
minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown
focusing on any subject matter you choose. These tours can be after work,
during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION - contact Brady Westwater at
213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY
BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453
S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown
resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA
Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the
BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses,
artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown. All tours are only $10
per person.

Wyatt
Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will
see the first motion picture theater built, the place where Babe Ruth
signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived
when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles
vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor
Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the
Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet
Dalton, actor Ryan Gosling and more. And you will also visit where
O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by
gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends
of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral. At this
intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy,
Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow
Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the
places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned
to Downtown. You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and
stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview
of what will soon be happening in the area.

Tickets for either tour are only $10 per person - free for children under 8 -
and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or
emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com. All credit card orders will be
processed at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of
the tour. All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the
study of the history of the neighborhood.

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest
such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets,
sports (from steer wrestling
to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild
West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many
other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by
request for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what
it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many
of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners,
too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you
can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We
expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to
Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do
after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown
residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.